Musings, opinions, observations, questions, and random thoughts on island life, Fernandina Beach and more

Musings, opinions, observations, questions, and random thoughts on island life, Fernandina Beach and more

Local & National Media Have Lost All Credibility While Pro Sports Is Now A Propaganda Forum

The media – nationally and locally – are justifiably suffering and doing their best to conceal their self-inflicted wounds.

Thanks to the national media’s incompetence and slanted left-wing coverage Covington (Kentucky) High School student Nick Sandman graduated this year with more than $500 million in his bank account and much more likely to pour in.

I wonder if he invited any of the reporters to his high school graduation party.

The Washington Post and CNN just gave Nick Sandman more than 500 million reasons to keep smiling.

Both CNN and the Washington Post settled multi-million-dollar defamation lawsuits with the young private Catholic high school teenager who was targeted because he wore a MAGA hat to a pro-life rally in D.C. Try to find the stories about those settlements on any major media sites. There were a few brief mentions, but you had to search hard for them.

Sandman’s family sought at least $250 million in damages from both the Post and CNN for the paper’s and network’s reporting that portrayed the teenager as a racist for continually smiling at Native American activist Nathan Phillips who was banging a drum and screaming in the kid’s face. Sandman stood there without saying a word…he just smiled. CNN and the Post have taken it on the chin from the courts and in their bank accounts, and Sandman’s smile just got wider. Phillips will probably get an anchor position on CNN to chant his version of the news. Anything would be better than Don Lemon.

The young Mr. Sandman has six additional lawsuits outstanding and he is probably going to be a lot wealthier after they are settled in or out of court.

In another bit of bad news for the media, a federal judge has ruled that Sarah Palin can move ahead with her defamation lawsuit against the New York Times.

In a 2017 editorial, the liberal rag accused Palin and her PAC of having triggered the shooting of GOP congressmen, including Steve Scalise, at a baseball diamond.  The Times naturally blamed Palin even though the shooter was a supporter of Bernie Sanders and Mrs. Palin is a Republican.

They essentially contended that all political violence after January, 2011, could be laid at Palin’s doorstep because her political action committee had circulated a map that put 20 Democratic candidates, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, in stylized crosshairs.

As west coast pundit Burt Prelutsky so eloquently put it: “For symbolically targeting liberals for political extinction, the paper’s editorial blockheads pretended it was the equivalent of Mafioso Louie “The Bean” Garbanzo putting out a contract on a rival in the cement business.”

You’d have to be living in a cave in Borneo if you aren’t aware that 95% of the media is pulling for and even financially supporting the Biden-Harris ticket. But you would think they’d at least try to conceal their bias better than they do. Maybe because they’re nearly all on the same side, they feel they won’t be called out on it.

One of the most contemptible media missteps recently is The Atlantic’s fairy tale by Jeffry Goldberg about President Trump’s alleged remarks about American war dead during a visit to France this summer. The same media that are expressing the greatest fury at Trump’s alleged remarks are the same cretins who have spent their entire professional lives contemptuously dismissing those fallen warriors whose bodies fill military cemeteries.

Can anyone imagine a national news publication running a story accusing Joe Biden or Nancy Pelosi of maligning the war dead with nothing but anonymous sources?

This institution that should be holding all violators accountable, has abandoned any pretense of objectivity. Where is the reporting on the phony Steele dossier? The falsified FISA court documents? The contrived Russian collusion narrative? The wiping clean of 25 of the Mueller team’s phones? The Trump campaign and transition team being spied on? Hunter Biden’s Chinese and Ukrainian dealings? Joe Biden’s two brother’s lucrative foreign contracts? BLM’s Marxist manifesto and its funding? President Trump being nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize? The UAE and Bahrain establishing diplomatic relations with Israel?

While President Trump is peppered with questions about the virus, his past remarks, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, allegations by disgruntled former administration officials, and more, Bidden is only asked to expand on what he thinks of the allegations of Trump allegedly disparaging fallen soldiers. And he has to use a teleprompter to answer those.

There are no journalism standards anymore but double ones. I’m embarrassed to admit that I was once a member of the media.

According to a Gallup poll earlier this summer, 86% of respondents said that the mainstream media are responsible for the political division in this country. People do not trust the media. Liberal journalists are scrambling to tell folks that there is nothing wrong in Democrat-run cities and urging us to look away from the looted and burned-out shops, plywood covered stores and hotels that were already ravaged by the Covid virus before BLM and Antifa showed up to finish them off.

After months of mob violence being defended as peaceful protests, most Americans are awakening to the fact that they’ve been sold a shoddy piece of goods by the corrupt media that insists on calling rioters, looters and arsonists “peaceful protestors” that Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, etc. refuse to condemn.

The mere fact that Atlantic magazine printed a story that quotes four unnamed sources, but apparently never even spoke to those who were in France with the President when he allegedly made the remarks suggests this was nothing more than a hatchet job, a lousy one at that.

Wouldn’t readers have thought that Jeffrey Goldberg, who wrote the story, would have questioned John Bolton who was there and has been more than vocal in his criticism of his former boss? The fact that Bolton wasn’t questioned suggests that Goldberg made up the quotes or was told by one of the four liars that even Bolton wouldn’t go along with such an obvious piece of crap. So far 21 individuals who accompanied Trump on that trip, including Bolton, denied ever hearing such comments.

Goldberg, the writer of this fiction is the magazine’s far-left editor and an extremely wealthy donor to Democrats.

Some folks don’t care. They want to believe it to be true so badly they’ll blissfully ignore the facts. They’re like the little kid being denied a pre-dinner cookie who sticks his fingers in his ears and screams: “I can’t hear you.”

One of the most disappointing of those is local online Fernandina Observer founder and Editor Susan Steger.

Susan Steger

When Ms. Steger – who has no journalism training or background – started her newspaper some seven years ago she declared she wanted no controversy and steered clear of opinion pieces. That has fallen by the wayside as opinion pieces are now commonplace in her publication. The person that should be running the paper is Observer reporter Suanne Thamm, an old-fashioned veteran national reporter, who does a good job of sorting the wheat from the chaff. Ms. Steger, a former City Commissioner and mayor, has gone off the rails.

Under Ms. Steger’s direction the Observer exposes her-far left leaning tendencies and biases by ignoring opinions she doesn’t want to hear. For example, this past June the local citizen watchdog group Common Sense, sent local media, including the Observer, a detailed time-line summary of multi-million-dollar mistakes made by the city in its bungled dealings with FEMA over payment for marina repairs following Hurricane Matthew in late 2016.

The city blames FEMA claiming it reneged on a promise to provide the money, but it can’t produce one single piece of documentation or any testimony to back up that contention. Nothing. Zip! Zero! City Commissioner Chip Ross penned a foggy piece attempting to explain away the issues and blaming FEMA for the city’s woes. Despite Common Sense having FEMA documents, emails, official meeting notes, minutes from commission meetings and more showing otherwise, Ms. Steger ignored them. But she ran the gibberish provided by City Manager Dale Martin and Commissioner Ross that falsely dismissed any fault on the city’s part.

I asked Ms. Steger why she didn’t print the Common Sense timeline. She responded saying: “We decided not to run the opinion and to wait for the appeal process to take place.” Objective? You decide.

The Observer’s journalism style guides.

In a Sunday, September 6 Facebook posting Ms. Steger fully exposed her far-left views and lack of journalistic skills and in so doing blew the reputation of the Observer to smithereens. She says she’s all-in with anonymous sources. Maybe that’s why she refused to run comments from actual sources in her Observer about the FEMA fiasco. Commenting on the Atlantic Magazine’s fictional account of President Trump’s alleged comments falsely denigrating fallen American soldiers Ms. Steger doubled down by eliminating any pretense of objectivity on her part.

Here’s just part of what she wrote: “Why do I believe Jeffrey Goldberg’s Atlantic Monthly report? Goldberg is a well-respected journalist who cultivated numerous reliable sources during his career. The majority of individuals called to serve in government are honorable people who have a strong sense of right and wrong. In some aspects of the story, as many as four staffers confirmed the information provided.” She repeated left wing talking points verbatim.

She continued digging her hole deeper adding: “A journalist does not want to use anonymous sources, but I can understand why Goldberg published his article,” she enthusiastically gurgled.

“Anonymous sources are anonymous to the reader, not to the writer, and there are numerous sources who have confirmed Goldberg’s report.”

“Anonymity will protect a family, and for those dedicated to serving, will save a job.”

She signed off saying: “We can all do better.”

What a crock. Her Facebook comments are pure bunkum and obviously reflect her editorial views at the Observer. In her Observer publication she refused to run material from named local sources that provided facts and details. Instead she opted to publish the city’s leaky bucket of obfuscation and innuendo. At least she’s admitting that facts don’t matter to her if they get in the way of her preconceived storyline.

Anonymity is fine with Ms. Steger. Pesky facts would just clutter the story she wants told. Anonymous sources can confidently call Ms. Steger and report that The Pope and Elvis were spotted pounding shots together at the Palace Saloon. That will make her next edition.

It’s ironic that she ends her Facebook blather with “We can all do better”. Yep, we sure can Ms. Steger and that starts with you and your now discredited online paper. Before blowing up her publication’s reputation Ms. Steger should have done more research, she would have discovered the following among others:

https://thepoliticalinsider.com/atlantic-editor-admits-main-point-of-trump-hit-piece-could-be-wrong-21-officials-go-on-the-record-to-refute-story/?utm_campaign=TPI09132020SunAM&utm_source=criticalimpact&utm_medium=email&utm_content=b74f06bfc865fe7c5c3f7f31ec3222fb&source=TPICI

But that would have covered up the false narrative Ms. Steger so desperately wants to be true.

 

***

NFL Playing Political Football: This past Sunday I stopped by an Amelia Island restaurant and bar that shows NFL football games on its many TVs. I’ve frequented this place many Sundays in past years to watch games. It was always fun watching the camaraderie of the different groups of fans and friends that cluster together to cheer for their preferred teams. The crowd this year was good, but the atmosphere was different. It wasn’t upbeat. The enthusiasm wasn’t there like it used to be.

Based on what I saw and heard there’s no passion for the NFL’s Soviet style propaganda. You could feel the difference. For example, there was no singing of “Hail to the Redskins” because that team caved in to the cancel culture and wokeness crowd and erased the “Redskins” name it proudly boasted for the past 87 years because a handful of non-fans found it offensive. The D.C. squad is now a nondescript thing called the Washington Football Team. Nobody was in a mood to sing “Hail to the Team.”

I also never dreamed that there would be a day that standing up for the American national anthem would make a person a pariah. And forgive me, but I’ve never heard of the black national anthem. What the hell is that all about? Is there a Latino national anthem? An Asian one? A native American one, etc.?  An Eskimo one? If so, how long does it take to get a game started after that songfest? Here’s an idea! How about one national anthem for all Americans? One called the “Star Spangled Banner.”

I have a black liberal friend hereabouts who served with the US Marines in Vietnam who never agrees with me on anything, who said to me this past Tuesday: “There’s no such thing as a black national anthem, there’s only one national anthem.”

The tone-deaf buffoons running professional sports have turned their games into protest movements rather than athletic contests and fans don’t like it. They don’t want their noses rubbed in political propaganda. They don’t like seeing symbols of anti-American anarchist groups flashed on signs, scoreboards, courts, and fields, plastered on players clothing, and names of criminals and thugs on helmets and caps. They just want football, baseball, etc. Based on what I’ve been reading and hearing recently ratings are deservedly suffering. Monday night’s NFL football ratings dropped a whopping 21 percent from a year ago says FOX one of the networks that broadcasts the games. I’m no longer watching. And neither are many of my pals.

Former Chicago Bears football player and coach Mike Ditka expressed the feelings of many fans toward the players this past Wednesday when he said: “If they don’t like it here then they should get the hell out and play football in another country.” In Kansas City, one of only two cities allowing people in the stadium, fans lustily booed the players who stood arm-in-arm in some kind of show of unity for their misguided cause prior to kick-off.

Some of the bar and restaurant owners hereabouts are telling me they aren’t renewing their “NFL Ticket” TV subscriptions. They can cost up to $25,000 and more a season for some places depending on their seating capacity. If fans aren’t turning out in the numbers they did in the past, it’s money wasted. Political rallies are free, and you know what to expect …. and you sure don’t expect a football game to break out.

Hopefully, those folks sitting in those luxurious private box seats who own the teams got the message this past Sunday when fans lustily booed and jeered following some kind of on-field social justice ceremony.

Most fans are good people, but they don’t want to be lectured about the chaos going on in the streets — just the opposite, they’re trying to find an escape from it. Think about the poor folks in Minneapolis, Seattle, Chicago, New York, etc. who watched their businesses being looted and burned, crawling out from under the rubble of their smoldering neighborhoods only to go to an arena or stadium and see the NFL, MBA and NBA  glorifying the thugs who destroyed their life’s work.

The loons running the NFL, NBA, and MBA  are alienating the most loyal members of its fanbase — the ones who show up for games in this midst of a pandemic — by constantly lecturing to them that they need to be embracing social justice causes.

A SIGN OF THE TIMES

The Nassau County sign pictured above is a reflection of what’s happening hereabouts as election day grows closer. According to statistics I requested from the office of the Nassau County Supervisor of Elections, Democrats are leaving their party in increasing numbers and joining the ranks of Republicans. Many are also leaving the Dems and registering as Independents or NPA (No Party Affiliation).

The numbers I received are only for the period between July 20 and September 16 so I’m assuming there will be more to come since the last day to register to vote is October 5 and it appears Democrats are switching party affiliation faster than Joe Biden can say: “BLM members are just peaceful protestors.”

So far the Nassau County Republican ranks have increased by 306 due to party switching, including 155 Democrats and 146 NPA’s deciding to become Republicans. In the same brief period just 30 Republicans switched to register as Democrats and 52 NPA joined the Dems. The Green party also picked up a Democrat defector, but that’s redundant – and one Dem joined the Libertarian Party. In that short period of time the Dems lost 211 currently registered voters while Republicans picked up 308 off the current rolls.

Nassau County boasts 69,447 registered voters with 40,194 of those signing up as Republicans and 14,803 as Democrats.

***

A portion of last week’s Trump rally crowd.

Speaking Of Political Parties: Last Saturday more than 100 sign-waving Trump supporters showed up at the corners of Sadler and 8th Street to display their backing for the President’s re-election. They’ll be back again tomorrow (Saturday, September 19) from 9:30 – 11:30 AM.

Folks wanting to participate are welcome to join in. If you want to purchase or borrow a sign contact Amanda Borghese who will be at the parking lot in front of the Beach Diner. There will also be a Trump merchandising booth in front of the 5422 First Coast Highway office beginning at 8:30 a.m. Saturday.

Opera singer, Mary Aiello, will once again perform the Star-Spangled Banner and there will be also be a Voter Registration booth.

Mrs. Borghese and her husband Francesco, who contributed the red-roofed First Coast Highway Trump office building, reports that she has put yard signs outside the facility, on the grass, near the main road, every day. “And every day, they are stolen, or mutilated,” she says. “That’s why we finally put the large 6′ x 5′ Trump/Pence sign up on a lamp post. “I hear this kind of thing is happening all over our town.”

She’s right. Neighborhood social media sites are filled with reports of Trump signs being snatched and “Support The Police” signs being taken and mutilated as well. One Fletcher Avenue resident tells me he’s had four “Support The Police” signs taken in the past six weeks. I’ve read just one social media report of a Biden sign being filched.

The theft of these signs speaks volumes about Biden supporters and the mindset of Democrats. Many pooh-pooh yard signs, saying they don’t persuade others. That’s not the issue. The issue is these people have a right to express their visible support for their candidates and/or beliefs and stealing the signs is theft that can result in arrest. Some of the signs being defaced with “BLM” graffiti cost hundreds of dollars. I’m not an attorney but I’m inclined to think that might be a felony. I’ve been told that cameras are currently being set up in many neighborhoods to record future incidents.

  • Comment (15)
  • One thing I found interesting this week is the English premier league deciding to remove BLM from uniforms. Reason being it was causing too much divisiveness and the stance from BLM of defunding police was not good. I’m not sure why it took this long after hearing F the police, fry them up in a pan etc. When will we catch up?

  • We had our Trump sign and a flag on a makeshift flag stolen last week. We put up a large sign in its place and that night someone smeared mud all over it. While installing it A Biden supporter, (White male white pickup truck University of Florida tag) stuck his head over my fence and yelled until I came out of the house. He wanted to tell me that he is reporting my sign for being too large. The FB code enforcer came by the next afternoon and said it was too large, but my last sign and flag were permitted. I can have 6sq ft signs -up to 8 of them. Almost no restrictions on flags. I bolted the new sign to my fence and bolted new the flag pole as well. I also installed cameras to watch the whole scene 24 hours a day. Maybe if the Democrats were not such criminals people would vote for them.

  • Just a side note to the comments about sign stealing………not only are signs being stolen but also threats were left in a friends mailbox about flying her Trump flag in the neighborhood. If I’m not mistaken….that might also be against the law! Things are really getting ugly.

  • I was an avid Pittsburgh Steelers fan, not anymore, I’ll spend my Sunday afternoons volunteering. I’m pretty much done with professional sports,

  • This Trump Derangement Syndrome has infected so many that we all thought were above hearsay and rumor. God save the USA

    • It’s not Trump Derangement Syndrome, it’s ODD (oppositional defiant disorder) and it’s a real problem. It mostly it occurs in children, but not always. Sometimes it manifests itself as broad opposition to all authority, but often the opposition is focused on only a single aspect of a person’s life (home, work, school, politics, etc.). It seems to explain a lot of what’s going on in the U.S. these days.

  • Although “BLM” was obvious during the DNC convention (Billy Porter dancing to Stills “For What It’s Worth” with the “BLM” logo flowing in the backdrop), somebody decided not to include BLM in the DNC 2020 Platform. (So much for the diehard virtue signaling Dems among us who do not read their own Party’s Platform.)

    The DNC 2020 Platform mentions “Black live matter… (lower case “l” and “m”) on pages 6 and 40. The Literati in our community should recognize the difference when BLM is capitalized and when it is not.

    Regarding police “killing” Blacks, the Platform has an interesting observation (page 35): “It is unacceptable that more than 1,000 people, a quarter of them Black, have been killed by police every year since 2015…” No indication if the police actions were justified, however, 250 Black people a year is hardly a national systemic racist epidemic. By the way, what about the other 750 people? No mention of their ethnicity.

    And for the ugliest in our community, you need only ask two questions: If Biden is elected, do you think the Republicans in our community will demonstrate and protest? Alternatively, If Trump is reelected, what do you think the Democrats in our community will do? Keep in mind that some of the individuals who consistently post on this Blog had letters to the NewsLeader published complaining about Trump as early as February 1, 2017. “TDS” is real.

  • Dave – were you aware of a Five Story Hotel (2 story underground parking & 3 above ground) by Hilton next to Sliders in planning? That should be enough for a column or 3. Also, can’t wait to see have the Marriotts on Atlantic will foul the neighborhood. I wonder if the Creamsicle orange paint is the final coat.

  • Has anyone seen what the Fernandina Beach Commissioners are busy passing? A new police state for us.(from the News Leader Paper) “The commission approved an amendment to city code that will make it easier to enforce ordinances created under the city’s emergency powers. The amendment also addresses the state of emergency process so that the mayor and city manager can declare a state of emergency, if they agree to do so. That is what happened when the current state of emergency was declared in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, but now the process is set forth in city code.

    The amendment also gives additional power to the police, code enforcement, and police auxiliary officers to enforce ordinances during a state of emergency, such as requirements to wear face masks and follow any curfews. The amendment also provides for a civil citation process so that enforcement, violation notices, fines, and other issues involving violations of emergency orders are all dealt with in the city, Bach said. The amendment passed on first reading and a second will be scheduled.”

  • To Vito, the Pittsburgh Steeler Fan. I too am a Steeler fan and fast forwarding to the kickoff, I have not written off football quite yet. But I must say, I am seeing things start to change. Check out Alejandro Villanueva’s decision to break from the “team decision” to wear the name of Pittsburgh teen Antwon Rose, Jr., who was shot and killed by a police officer in 2018, on the back of their helmets. Maurkice Pouncey is the second Steeler to remove Antwon Rose name from his helmet. He said that, in retrospect, it may not have been such a good idea to wear the name of a kid who lost his life after being implicated in a drive-by shooting. Yesterday, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Vince Williams has added his voice to those Steelers turning critical of the NFL’s ongoing social justice demonstrations.
    https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2020/09/18/steelers-vince-williams-tired-of-teams-social-justice-publicity-stunts/
    If its happening on the Steelers, I am sure its starting to happening with other teams

  • To Vito, the Pittsburgh Steeler Fan, I too am a Steeler fan and have not quite written them off yet. I am seeing things start to change. Alejandro Villanueva’s decided to break from the “team decision” to wear the name of Pittsburgh teen Antwon Rose, Jr., who was shot and killed by a police officer in 2018, on the back of their helmets as a statement about police brutality. On Thursday, lineman Maurkice Pouncey similarly said that, in retrospect, it may not have been such a good idea to wear the name of a kid who lost his life after being implicated in a drive-by shooting. Yesterday linebacker Vince Williams has added his voice to those Steelers turning critical of the NFL’s ongoing social justice demonstrations.Williams has turned critical of the paean to Black Lives Matter even though he did join the team in wearing the teen’s name. Also, Minkah Fitzpatrick recently dismissively noted the decision to put the Rose sticker on team helmets was made by executives “upstairs” and the players “barely” even discussed it.
    After so many team members have spoken about their doubts over placing Rose’s name on their helmets, the team is now saying players can opt out without any issue.
    https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2020/09/18/steelers-vince-williams-tired-of-teams-social-justice-publicity-stunts/
    I don’t know for sure, but I would guess there is a change coming with other teams as well. I am not dismissing the need for discussion, but lets just play football and discuss those issues when the game ends.

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